Bikes

SPIRIT 5 - '79 Z1000

Commissioned

We were commissioned by a lovely chap in the West Midlands to regenerate this fabulous seventies icon - a 1979 Kawasaki Z1000. Our plan was to improve the looks without removing any "Big Zed"-ness, and improve the performance - bringing it up to modern standards of going, stopping and turning. So we stripped it down to its component parts, rebored the engine to 1105cc, polished the head for better gas flow, overhauled the carbs, made a bespoke exhaust system with Zircotec coated headers, added a Zephyr 1100 swingarm to house the beefier spoked rear wheels and sticky rubber, dropped in Triumph Daytona forks, brakes and clip-ons, electronic clocks, a bespoke aluminium seat unit and pad and lashings of matt pearlescent paint. "This one goes to 11..."